Ladies and gentlemen, we present what could well be the most heinous crime a blue shell has ever committed. One man’s shot at a world record, obliterated just nano-inches from the finish line.

Picture the scene. There you are, enjoying a casual Mario Kart session with your buddies. Things are getting a little heated, the well-placed bananas and green shells are finding their marks, insults are starting to be thrown around. Somebody gets a little uppity, pulling ahead of the pack. They boast of their assured win, and then… yep, the spiny wings of justice fly forth (it doesn’t have wings in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but never mind that) and shatters them into dust.

Sound familiar? Of course it does, because every Mario Kart session ends this way. Like Mario Party, it’s a franchise that has a super family-friendly and cutesy exterior, but is, in reality, a horrible, friendship-evaporating disaster.

A lot of this is due to the most controversial item ever added to the series: the Spiny Shell. The plain old blue shell, if you prefer. Players either love it or hate it, and that usually depends on whether they’re wielding it or on the receiving end. Sure, there are those who argue that the person who actually uses it tends to be too far back to benefit, but many a race have been decided by this abomination.

When you’re just ruining casual local or online races, that’s one thing, but one particular blue shell destroyed a world record attempt.

As NintendoLife reports, speedrunner Skilloz_ was shooting for the world’s fastest time in the 200cc Star Cup. Everything was going smoothly. He was making great time on Mount Wario, when it happened: a CPU racer got themselves a Spiny Shell and launched it at our hero. Then, the inevitable happened: Skilloz_ was taken out by the shell, a few agonizing inches from the finish line.

The result? Skilloz_ ended the race one second behind the record, but did net themselves a personal best in the process. So, there’s that. Were they magnanimous in defeat? Well, check out the stream below (the fateful incident occurs around the 24: 20 mark) to find out.